Vijay Varma Opens Up about Battling Severe Depression — Credits Ira Khan for Saving Him: “I Couldn’t Move from My Couch”

In a frank and unsettling revelation, actor Vijay Varma has spoken about a chapter in his life steeped in isolation, anxiety and depression—one that many in the entertainment industry might recognise but few openly confront. According to his recent interview, the lockdown was a breaking point: he found himself unable to rise from his couch for days, locked in his Mumbai apartment, feeling utterly paralysed.

Varma explained that the interruption of his relentlessly busy schedule forced him to face the hidden toll of constant hustle. “The pause,” he said, “made me realise how lonely I had become while constantly chasing work.”  He recalled having a small terrace where he could at least look up at the sky—“that saved me”, he admitted.

Crucially, he acknowledged the role of Ira Khan, daughter of the renowned actor-filmmaker Aamir Khan, in helping him begin to pick himself up. Through Zoom calls, virtual workouts and emotional check-ins, she urged him to move his body, seek help and accept that therapy wasn’t a weak move. “I’ll join you in a Zoom workout,” she told him, he recalled. Varma credited this intervention as a turning point—“she was the first to point out, ‘Vijay, I think you need to start moving a little bit’.”

On therapy, Varma revealed that formal diagnosis followed: he was diagnosed with both depression and anxiety. He shared that his therapist even suggested medication, though he told her he would “try managing for now”. He described even yoga sessions becoming triggers: “By the third or fourth Surya Namaskar I’d collapse, crying for hours without knowing why.”

What makes his admission controversial is the collision of stardom with vulnerability. Here is a young actor who has carved a niche in acclaimed projects, admitting that despite external success he was internally crumbling. It raises uncomfortable questions for Bollywood: how many actors carry such struggles silently? And how much pressure exists to maintain an image of strength and invincibility?

There is also the aspect of guilt and unresolved emotional baggage. Varma revealed that part of his inner turmoil stemmed from a fractured relationship with his father and the decision to leave home years ago to pursue his craft. That decision, while career-defining, brought guilt he says he still carries.

In a world where mental health is finally being discussed more openly, Varma’s candidness is a positive step. But the darker side is that he was alone for so long—and perhaps able to stay that way because the system around him assumed he was “doing fine”. His words remind us that the silent implosion inside can happen even when the world sees performance, prestige, and popularity.

Whether this becomes a turning point for him, his career and his mental health remains to be seen. What is clear: his story is part cautionary, part hopeful—and fully real.